Ghibli Prince: Porco Rosso

Film: Porco Rosso (English title)
Kurenai no Buta (Japanese title)

Voices: Shuichiro Moriyama (Japanese)
Michael Keaton (English)
Jean Reno (French)

The Character

If there is one thing that every true Hayao Miyazaki fan knows is that in almost of all his Ghibli films, there are two aspects: pigs and flying. In most of his films, there is flight and in a few, there are pigs (in Laputa: Castle in the Sky, you see pigs for a brief second and in Spirited Away, the main character's parents are turned into pigs). With Porco Rosso, you get a flying pig!!!

He is like a prince from a fairy tale. When you peel away many of the elements, you find a story that resembles Beauty and the Beast or The Frog Prince, in the sense that Porco is a man cursed to look like a pig. However, what makes this story interesting that although the origin and nature of the curse is not revealed in the film, there is a strong opinion that the curse is self-inflicting.

Before he was cursed, he was Marco Pagot who was an ace pilot of the Italian Air Force during World War I. Now, in 1929, 11 years since the War ended, he works as a bounty hunter tracking down "air pirates" and he lives alone on an island. Between the Great War and 1929, he has quit the IFA due to the rise of fascism, become disillusioned with humanity and has "quitted" being a human. He seems to hate his human form for there is only one picture of him as a human that hangs on the wall of Gina's restaurant and he has crossed out his face on the picture, much to Gina's dismay.

It is not just that he looks like a pig either. He is also crude and lazy. He can be blunt and carries some sexist attitudes towards women, particularly 17 year old Fio. He cannot believe that she can be an excellent architect and he is not too comfortable about her tagging along for the ride when he tests the new place she created. In this case with his attitude and sexist ways, he is a "pig". Whether these attitudes were there before he turned into a pig or not is debatable as it is not mentioned in the film.

However, he has got heart. His sexist attitude towards Fio, in particular changes to concern when she is crowded by air pirates and then when Donald Curtis proposes to her. Although, he has sexist attitudes, he dims them down a lot when he is talking to Gina.

Of course, every Prince has his Princess. Not this guy: he's got two!! Yes, Fio and Gina love him so much and yet he cannot see it. In fact, Gina has loved him for years. It is implied that she could have been the first man she fell in love with but due to unexplained actions, she ends up marrying his best friend, who later dies whilst fighting alongside Marco/Porco. In fact, as Marco flies, he sees his best friend fly up to join the flying line of deceased pilots. Marco screams that he has to take care of Gina which shows he genuinely cares for her. It could be the realisation of his friend's death that sent him down on his path to self-hatred. It could be that he suffers from post traumatic syndrome and feels guilty that he lived whilst his best friend dies which would make Gina sad.

He also has a rival in the form of Donald Curtis. He falls in love with every girl he meets, Gina and Fio included and in a possible quest for pride and ego, he constantly attacks Porco. However, at the end, even Curtis brings Porco to realisation.

In the end, it is these three people that bring Porco down to having faith in humanity. Gina loves him unconditionally and when Fio and Porco are alone in the island, Fio sees a glimpse of Porco/Marco and later, he hugs him. The conversation between Porco and Fio at the camp set up the "kiss the frog prince" theory and she even hugs and pecks him on the cheek.

During the battle, Donald makes Porco realise that Gina loves him to which Porco is shocked and the final act is when Fio hugs his bruised body and kisses his cheek. It is implied that his features became changed because Donald demands a look at his face as if he is seeing things. However, this is not confirmed or whether the transformation (if any) was possible. The ending is left open if Gina and Porco eventually got together but we are left with the feeling that he did and that he overcame his self-loathing and, like all good Princes, lived happily ever after.



The voices behind the character

Shuichiro Moriyama has a gravelly voice that does show bitterness which is perfect for Porco. Once you know about the character, it is so easy to understand why he was chosen.

When it comes to the English dub, Michael Keaton is an interesting choice. He does have this dark almost gravelly voice of Porco but there is something lacking. He sounds like he's straining when all other dubs mentioned in this entry are way more natural. He can be a big too loud like he's in a theatre and trying to make the audience at the back hear him. Not the best dub ever BUT he's not the worst Ghibli dub, not by a long shot.

There is one version that outstrips even the Japanese version. It's true that the Japanese ones are very strong when it comes to anime but there is one non-Japanese version that is considered to be the strongest of all the dubs possible for this film, or any Ghibli film. That dub is the French dub. The cast is incredibly strong throughout but there is one actor that was not only good as his character but was downright perfect. That person is Jean Reno.

Yes, Jean Reno as in Leon: The Professional and The Da Vinci Code amongst others. Anyone who has seen any of Reno's films, English or otherwise can understand that his gravely voice was perfect for this kind of role. I see Porco as a bitter and apathetic character, traits that Reno brings out beautifully in his voice, particularly in Leon. He is even more gravelly than Moriyama which is a strength in Reno's favour. However, he can also show the emotion needed when possible, particularly when he shows concern for Gina. I just cannot find any reasoning as to why this guy is so perfect. It's one of those "watch it to believe me" kind of scenarios.